A Twist of Betrayal

by Allie Harrison

“I think as long as he’s worried about his escape, he’ll keep her alive and unharmed,” Steve replied.

  “That’s not much of an answer,” Dan said, feeling his gut clench at the idea of Justine being with that madman.

  Steve reached out and touched his shoulder. “We’ll do everything we can to get her back safe and sound. You know that,” he promised.

  When the EMTs finished with his arm, Dan thanked them and got up.

  “Where are you going?” Steve asked.

  “What? Did the chief hire you to babysit me?” he had to ask.

  “Sort of,” Steve replied honestly.

  “Well, don’t worry about me. I’m just too antsy to sit still so I’m going to walk around a bit. I give you my word I won’t get in the way. I won’t screw up any evidence. I won’t go driving off, and I won’t hinder the investigation.”

  Steve nodded, accepting his word. “I’ll be here if you need me.”

  Dan walked past the get-away car, pointedly ignoring its presence and looked in the direction he’d heard them go.

  “I’m coming for you,” he whispered, his words lost to the sounds around him. “I’ll fix this with whatever it takes. I’ll look for you forever, Jus. Just hang in there, honey.” He envisioned her face as if she were standing before him. He thought he could even see snow falling into her hair. In the same vision, he saw the eyes of the man who had taken her. “And I’m coming for you, too. I should have never let you get away in the first place.”

  Then, he turned and confronted Chief Watson. He had no choice but to go to work. Treat this as any other investigation. If he couldn’t do that, he had to at least put on the appearance that he could.

  Steve stepped close to him. “I guess I can’t convince you to let me take you home and get some food into you.”

  “No, you can’t. Tell me everything,” Dan said. He refused to let either of them see how hard it was to keep control.

  “Maybe it would be best if you stayed out of the investigation,” Chief Watson said.

  “Forget it,” Dan snapped.

  The chief let out a heavy sigh and muttered, “How did I know you were going to say that?” He looked at Dan square in the eye. “All right, I’ll fill you in. But the second you interfere with this investigation because you’re thinking with your heart and not your head, I’ll toss you in a cell just to keep you out of the way, understand?”

  “I understand,” Dan said.

  The chief explained about the robbery, how the robber had even taken jewelry and wallets from customers, and the way Justine was dragged across the parking lot. It took all the will Dan possessed to stand still as he listened. And he had to close his eyes when he heard about Justine being struck with the assailant’s gun. So that was how the blood got on her face.

  Then Dan met Steve’s gaze. “You let her go with him?” he asked, his voice filled with accusation.

  “Dan—” the chief tried to intervene.

  “What would you have rather I’d done?” Steve asked. “Shot her?”

  “Shot him!” Dan yelled.

  “I would have had to shoot past Justine,” Steve explained, as though an explanation was really necessary.

  “You could have shot out his damned tires so he couldn’t drive,” Dan said, hardly able to control the anger that boiled through him like lava.

  “He had a gun pointed at her the whole time. I couldn’t take the chance.”

  “She’s my wife!”

  “She’s my friend,” Steve said.

  “Am I going to have lock you in a cell?” Chief Watson asked. There was no anger in his voice, no emotion, nothing but that underlying tone of authority that Dan could never ignore.

  Dan let out a painful sigh. “No.” His throat was so tight, the single word hurt. He chuckled bitterly. “Look how close I was, too. And I didn’t even have my gun.”

  Watson continued as if Dan hadn’t spoken, explaining what else was being done and the help that was on the way. As he finished the explanation, his expression softened and his eyes filled with something that looked like pity or sympathy. It was a look Dan hated and he wanted to punch the look off the chief’s face.

  Then the chief tried to offer an encouraging smile. “We’re going to get her back.”

  “Yeah,” Dan muttered, wishing he could have a guarantee with those famous last words. He turned and looked toward the get-away van. He wished he knew how to actually do his job, instead of just going through the motions. He wished he could ignore the frustration that ate at him like a small animal with sharp teeth and the fear that rushed through him. It was the fear that was the hardest, keeping him hurting with its coldness.

  He looked through the window of the van, doing his best to keep a thousand ‘if only’s from going through his mind. It didn’t help seeing blood on the seat and knowing it came from his wife.

  His worry for Justine left him weak. He swallowed hard and looked down, waiting for some of his strength to return. The fact that he happened to run across the kidnapper might have been nothing more than a coincidence, pure and simple, but in the life of a cop, nothing was pure and simple.

  Maybe, just maybe, the sonofabitch had wanted him to find them, had wanted him to see Justine held that way.

  If that were true, it was his second biggest mistake. The first being he took Justine to begin with.

  At Dan’s feet, something gold glittered on the pine needles, and Dan stared at it. He knew instantly what it was, and he didn’t want to face looking at it. He was afraid to touch it.

  It was Justine’s bracelet, apparently pulled or forced from her wrist between here and the unknown vehicle, a bracelet the robber perhaps hadn’t known was on her wrist. He let out a heavy breath that was almost a groan, but it was all he could manage just then.

  He’d given the bracelet to her for their first anniversary. He forced back another groan as he reached down and picked up the delicate gold chain, forgetting his promise to not compromise any evidence. As far as he was concerned, this wasn’t evidence. This was his only link to his wife. Although he already knew what was written on it, he read what was engraved on it. Instead of having Justine’s name or initials engraved on it, he’d had one word. Forever. He ran his fingers across the engraving.

  Then, he crammed the bracelet into the pocket of his jeans. But even after it was out of his hand, he couldn’t seem to forget how cold it felt.

  Chapter 8

  Justine forced herself to remain calm. Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall, fearing she would lose all control if she did. In her mind, she cried out to Dan. Had he been shot? She thought she’d managed to mess up her abductor’s aim, but she wasn’t sure. Her chest hurt at the thought of Dan lying back at the campground, bleeding and hurt. She flatly refused to believe there was a chance he could be dead. But she was certain he must be hurt. If he’d been able, he would have chased after them. Because he hadn’t, her kidnapper had the few moments it took to bind her with duct tape after he dragged her to the van and shoved her in. He finished by putting a large piece of tape over her mouth.

  If Dan had been able, he would have pounded his way into the van.

  While her abductor bound her, one question continuously gnawed at her belly.

  Did Dan and her kidnapper know each other? Dan had said the robber didn’t want her anyway and had offered himself, as if the robber would want him instead. The robber had talked of hurting her to hurt Dan.

  Justine hoped she’d get the chance to get the answers she needed. She was unable to stop the tears from sliding down her cheeks.

  Her kidnapper started the van and left the campground.

  She knew that Dan couldn’t help her, not right now. Just as she knew she could give out or give in, but she could never give up. Not when she still had the power of Dan’s love in her heart. It was enough to see her through this ordeal. It had to be. Despite what just happened, she was determined to survive this and keep her baby safe. Dan was close, she felt him.
She hugged her belly and wished she could fight off the coldness that held her in its grip. With her bound hands, she absently rubbed her belly, mentally picturing her child growing there inside of her. The baby was probably no bigger than a quarter, but it was living and growing every moment.

  Those breaths and mental pictures helped her keep her head clear as she stared up at the windshield. From the floor of the back of the van, she could only see the sky and the clouds. But she knew they had turned left after leaving the campground, so she guessed they were heading toward Getzville.

  “I’ll bet your face hurts,” her kidnapper said suddenly.

  If her mouth wasn’t taped shut, she thought she might have thanked him for reminding her of that pain, too. The part of her face where he’d hit her throbbed and sent pain through her entire head. She thought she felt her nose begin to swell, and it added to her fear. If the tape kept her from breathing through her mouth, what would happen if her nose swelled shut?

  Her hands were bound in front of her. Her kidnapper wasn’t very smart, and that was probably what frightened her most. Slowly, she reached up and peeled the tape from her lips. She licked her lips and tried to focus. All right, she thought, just pretend you’re fighting the biggest case of your career. What do you do first? Set priorities.

  Number one was getting out of this situation. With her hands tied in a moving van, there wasn’t much she could do about that now without possibly making things worse for her or her baby. After all, she could get up and choke her kidnapper he drove, but that could cause an accident. Trying to jump out was equally as terrifying. Dare she try it? She simply couldn’t decide which would be a worse fate—the kidnapper shooting her or losing the baby and being an invalid after jumping from a speeding van. After all, the baby was her second priority. She had to do whatever necessary to keep it safe.

  Number three was her marriage, but she could do little about that, too, until she and Dan were back together.

  No matter what the state of their marriage was, she couldn’t keep the image of Dan out of her mind. And the image of him in her thoughts grounded her and brought her strength. Dan wouldn’t expect her to sit and wait to be rescued, reminding her again that escape was her main priority.

  She had to do something. She was a fighter, always had been, never letting fear or anything else stop her. With her hands bound and a kidnapper who was twice her size, she knew physically fighting him would be a waste of time and probably cause her more pain. Knowing it may be a big mistake, she decided to try to reason with her kidnapper. She’d been able to talk juries into believing the defendant. She should be able to talk this man into letting her go.

  In the driver’s seat, her kidnapper looked calm and composed, as if his plans were falling into place. She could see his eyes in the rearview mirror, and she knew he moved it to watch her.

  “Did I tell you you could take the tape off your mouth?” His question was like a growl from an angry animal.

  “It’s hard to breathe through my nose.”

  “Well, it’s going to be harder if you try or say anything stupid. Because if you do, I’m going to do more than tape your mouth shut again, understand? I’ve got a plan here and a schedule to keep, and I don’t need you messing it up more than you already have.”

  Justine tried not to let his threat rattle her. “Why were you following me?” she asked, not acknowledging his threat. It was also a roundabout way of asking why he kidnapped her. And how he knew her husband.

  He didn’t readily reply, so she went on. “You don’t need me to escape since you already did. Just let me out here, it would be an hour or two before anyone found me. And you could be long gone.” She tried to speak in her strongest courtroom voice. She was, after all, on trial for her life.

  “I already told you. You weren’t just my escape. Hell, I did the whole robbery just to get to you.” He looked at her in the mirror, and his smile sent a chill up Justine’s spine.

  “Why?” She had done nothing but rack her brain trying to remember him, going through her mind and picturing everyone she’d ever defended and their families. This man was not familiar.

  “Maybe I like you, that’s why.”

  “I don’t believe that’s the real reason.” She certainly didn’t want or need him ‘liking’ her. This was not a friendly walk in the park. Justine swallowed hard and fought for control. “You don’t even know me well enough to know if you like me,” she pointed out.

  “I know what I like to look at. And,” he went on, his smile growing into an evil grin, “I also know Danny Boy loves you a lot even though he doesn’t deserve you, even though you cheated on him.”

  “I did not cheat on him.”

  “I’ve been watching you a long time. So we’ll see how much he’s willing to pay to get you back.”

  Again, he spoke as if he and Dan were more than casual acquaintances. Although perhaps he simply knew Dan if he’d been watching for a ‘long time.’ She probably would have dwelled more on that idea if her heart hadn’t dropped to her feet when she realized he knew about something about her that she couldn’t exactly remember herself. She pushed that bad thought to the back of her mind and concentrated on what he just said.

  He planned to ransom her?

  Being held for ransom was not a guarantee to keep her safe and it didn’t sit well with her. She and Dan were comfortable, but their lives were still ruled by house payments and car payments and insurance and a number of other things. They didn’t have the stash of money she guessed her abductor was planning to demand.

  Also, she couldn’t help but feel there was more to this than simple ransom, it was like he was after something specific.

  “Just how much do you plan to ask for?” she asked. She was more than a little curious as to what was she worth.

  She was also stalling for time until she thought of something else. Something better. It was an old courtroom tactic she’d been known to use—ask useless questions in a hope to rile the witness into saying something stupid that might help the case later, or useless questions meant to confuse the jury.

  “Two point nine million dollars,” he said, sweetly.

  That’s a pretty specific amount. “Is that how much you think I’m worth?” she asked, hoping to get some insight on this madman’s motivation. Justine’s stomach grumbled, reminding her she needed to eat, and she did her best to ignore it. The road twisted and turned more, and Justine completely lost track of her direction. And the clouds told her only of time slipping away as the sky darkened with the approaching evening.

  “It’s how much Danny owes me, but if you give me any trouble, it’s hard telling how much you’ll be worth. Understand?”

  The calmness in his voice, as if this were nothing more than a usual business deal, sent a shudder through her.

  Dan owes him? She nearly blurted out the question. She knew if she wanted straight answers, she had to keep him on a path that left him feeling safe and in control. Which meant she needed to stay in control. She was almost afraid to try any path at all. He was liable to clam up at any moment. Besides how could Dan possibly owe a man like him anything? He had to be mistaken. “You asked for this so-called trouble,” she reminded him. “I didn’t.” She felt as if she tested his limits with every word she said.

  She watched the darkening sky and found the idea of being in the dark with her kidnapper even more terrifying than being in the light. She didn’t know how much good talking to him was doing, but it helped ease her own fears.

  The motion of the van mixed with her empty stomach brought on a bout of nausea that she continued to fight against. She had a feeling that if she got sick in his van, he’d probably shoot her.

  He glanced over his shoulder at her. “If you do as I say and your hubby doesn’t try to be a hero, you’ll be home to serve him his usual French toast tomorrow. If not, well, you might just be serving me French toast,” he said shortly.

  For a long moment, she could think of no reply. That he should k
now Dan’s favorite breakfast was French toast was too much of a coincidence to sit well with her. It bothered her more than his knowing about her one night of maybe falling off the grid.

  “What if the police find you before then? Or the FBI? They get involved in kidnapping cases.”

  He chuckled. “I doubt I need to worry. I’m sure your husband will make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “Why would he do that?” she was terrified to ask.

  “He’s wanted by the FBI as much as I am.”

  “What?”

  This man was obviously out of his mind. Dan was an honored officer of the police force. He couldn’t be wanted by the FBI.

  “Hold that thought,” he said, not answering her question as he slowed the van. “I have to pull over. We’ve got a cop with his lights flashing behind us.”

  “What?” she asked again. Her heart raced at the idea of being rescued and he slowed down. He didn’t appear worried. Maybe this would be her chance to jump out and run. Could she run with her hands bound? She certainly planned to give it her best shot.

  “What are you going to do?” She did her best to keep her voice even and calm, but her heart was racing in her throat and it was nearly impossible. And since she was lying on the floor, she couldn’t see what was happening and she couldn’t be seen.

  “What I do depends on you, sweetcakes. If you make a sound, do anything at all to alert him, I’ll have no choice but to kill him.”

  He turned in his seat and looked down at her with a cold smile. “His life is in your hands, and he doesn’t even know it.”

  “You can let me out right now and drive away.”

  He chuckled as he watched in his rear view mirror. “Sorry, not an option.”

  “The truth is the longer you keep me, even though I’m unharmed,” she added quickly, “the worse it could be for you. The best thing you can do to help yourself and simplify this situation is to let me go right now. You could even tell this cop you picked me up and saved me.”

  “Somehow, I doubt he’ll believe that. I’m sure he’ll think I just kept your hands tied because you look good that way. Now here he comes, so shut up,” he said slowly as he rolled down his window. “Is there a problem, Officer?”